The Butterfly Effect
by angel-of-music2495
Summary: The mathematics of chaos has been popularized through the notion of the butterfly effect: the possibility that a large storm in New England may be caused by a butterfly wing flap in China. There are problems with this simple notion. These problems are keys to recognizing the difference between the models of chaos and the application of these ideas in most real complex systems.


A/N: This idea came from Tumblr. Someone wanted to see what might have happened if Hope and Doyle stayed together. Who would Maura have become? Well here's my best guess. This is probably going to have three chapters in total, and will purposely be both AU and OOC. Very well, on with the show.

Oh and Happy Birthday to Angie Harmon!

Disclaimer: I own nothing but the words I write. The characters belong to TNT, JTam and whoever else owns Rizzoli and Isles.

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**Chapter 1: The Flap of a Wing.**

_The mathematics of chaos has been popularized through the notion of the butterfly effect: the possibility that a large storm in New England may be caused by a butterfly wing flap in China. There are problems with this simple notion. These problems are keys to recognizing the difference between the models of chaos and the application of these ideas in most real complex systems._

It's funny how one event can completely alter the course of your life. It's like bumping into an old friend from medical school in a coffee shop, then staring down the barrel of her sister-in-law's gun a few days later. Not like Maura Doyle expected anything less from the enraged detective.

But it's always best to start stories at the beginning.

It all really started thirty-seven years ago. Her mother, Hope was a young Harvard student who fell in love with mobster's son from Southie. While their relationship did not garner either of their parents' approvals, they continued seeing each other. When Hope got pregnant, Paddy Doyle Sr. asked her to meet him. He was a hard man who would sooner tear his own eyes out than swoop in to save his son. But his boy had gotten this girl involved and now Senior had to deal with it.

"_Miss Martin, I presume," a gravelly voice greeted the college student. The man it belonged to looked like an older, darker version of her boyfriend._

"_Yes," she answered confidently, steeling her wits._

"_Let's skip the formalities and keep this short. By now you know far too much for your own good, so I'm going to offer you a choice," the man looked at her pointedly, not inviting room for argument. "Patrick is going to take over the family business when I'm gone. You have two options. You can either be standing beside him at the head of my business with my new heir, or you can disappear. I can ensure your way out of Boston but I can't promise your safety after that. Now choose."_

_Hope thought for a moment, and then unconsciously rubbed her swelling stomach. "And if the child wants no part of this?"_

"_Then he or she will be free to go on as they please, and pursue a different path."_

"_Can I continue at Harvard?"_

"_I don't see why that would be a problem."_

_Nodding her head in understanding, Hope stared in the cold eyes of her soon-to-be father-in-law. "Patrick, I choose Patrick."_

_Standing suddenly, the older man masked his shock. "Very well, I shall inform my boy of my consent. However, be advised, the Doyles do not take betrayal well."_

_Standing to shake his hand, Hope Martin narrowed her gaze, "No I don't suppose we do."_

That conversation sparked a crime spree the likes of which Boston had never seen. Patrick Doyle Senior died two months later, and four months after that; Maura Doyle was born to her proud parents Patrick and Hope Doyle.

Hope practiced medicine under her maiden name, but was always available to heal the victims of the crime wars. Maura was privately tutored in their South Boston home. Other than the rare occasions when her mother would take her out, Maura spent most of her childhood and young adult life around her father.

She was brilliant like her mother, but possessed a dark side more severe than her father. By age seven she could take apart almost any weapon and put it back together better than it was before. She could throw knives better than anyone in the family, but her true talent lied in science. By thirteen, she could patch up any injury the mobsters may have gotten. She removed bullet and sewed stitches with such precision, some of the men wondered if she was human. Not that they dared say that in front of Paddy.

Then Maura decided to go to college. After a lot of pleading and some assistance from Hope, Paddy agreed. She applied to and attended Boston Cambridge University. It was there she realized her one fatal flaw: she couldn't talk to people. Fix them, yeah. Order them around, no problem. Have a normal conversation, no way.

By the time she hit her senior year, she had some acquaintances but no close friends. While a small part of her was saddened by that fact, a larger part was happy for the lack of social interactions.

She followed in her mother's footsteps and went to medical school where she discovered pathology. Her mother questioned her logic, but accepted it in the end. Her father was just happy to see her happy.

Not long after she finished her MD, Patrick Doyle Jr. grew very ill. Hope, devastated by her husband's deteriorating condition, was unable to control the family. So the responsibility fell to Maura.

It only took a few weeks for the Doyle family to get used to the change. Paddy's lieutenants quickly learned that Maura was a force to be reckoned with. Her decisions were calm, calculated, strategic and swift. She had no qualms about getting her hands dirty, and her training as a pathologist made it impossible for the police to gather forensic evidence. She was methodical and a borderline psychopath, but she held command and respect. She also knew how to keep a low profile.

It was years before the Boston Police Department even got word of Paddy's passing. And that was all they got word of. No one had a clue who was running the Doyle family, they assumed it was just one of his lieutenants. No one in Southie knew either. It was the greatest mystery that no one wanted to know the answer to.

And that suited Maura just fine. With anonymity came freedom. She could come and go as she pleased, and she didn't have to worry about the police or any of the other families. What was left of them anyway. Maura finished what all of her ancestors had started, she had all but irradiated the other mob families from Boston, and she was only thirty-seven. When other families attempted to encroach on her territory, their demise was quiet and swift. Soon enough the word got around, "Whatever you do, stay the hell out of Boston."

The police were baffled. The gang unit had since shipped all of their information on the fallen gangs to a storage location in Western Massachusetts. All they had now was a bunch of boxes with years on them and unsolved case files inside. Everyone of them said "? Doyle" and all of them were still open. Half of the police force was looking for anything to give them a lead.

The real trouble started when the mob boss herself walked into Boston Joe's. All it took was a shocked "Maura?" for everything she had built to come crumbling down around her.


End file.
